The recommendation adopted by the European Commission on July 15 2009 allows the citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia with biometric passports to enter the Schengen area visa-free from January 2010
Mavi Boncuk |

Pacta sunt servanda L./Ahde vefa TR /agreements must be kept ENG., is a basic principle of civil law and of international law.

( EU must explain this part to Turkey)

In its most common sense, the principle refers to private contracts, stressing that contained clauses are law between the parties, and implies that non-fulfilment of respective obligations is a breach of the pact. The general principle of correct behaviour in commercial praxis — and implies the bona fide — is a requirement for the efficacy of the whole system, so the eventual disorder is sometimes punished by the law of some systems even without any direct penalty incurred by any of the parties.

The EU lifted visa restrictions Saturday for citizens from Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, even though these are in the early stages of the EU membership process, while not extending this Schengen privilege to Turkey, which began accession talks in 2005 and has opened 11 out of 35 chapters in its membership negotiations. Turkey protested and has asked to be included in the Schengen regime, pointing out that, of the Balkan states affected, only Macedonia has attained the status of EU candidate. Serbia has yet to submit a formal application and its entry has been stalled due to its failure to arrest ex-Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, who has been charged with war crimes in the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo.

Google Wave has some potential for group debates. Still there is much to discover and there is much to be done by Google. But I feel like, as a group of friends tonight, we have had a good conversational space there for the first time. In the mean time, we are not only ones to fantasize, here Turkish government has its own version of fantasy:

Nothing happens except the Dutch loses…

Turkey has announced that a Dutch parliamentary delegation will not be welcome if it includes Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. Turkish ministers and MPs will refuse to meet the entire delegation if Wilders is among them. A spokesperson for the Turkish foreign ministry says: “This man has racist ideas. We fear his presence would overshadow the visit”. The popular Turkish daily Aksam was the first to report the news on yesterday: “Tension over Mozart”, the paper’s headline read, apparently referring to the Freedom Party leader’s exotic hairdo. Read the rest of this entry »

NYT continues to embark on a shameful mission. Probably due to tensions between Turkey and Israel, NYT began to hit at Turkey’s probably the grandest trial for further democratization. Yesterday Mr. Bilefsky’s NYT article re-apperead on the Ergenekon trial: In Turkey, Trial Casts Wide Net of Mistrust

The article is built on already notarious sources who aims at destroying the trial from the outset (including Süheyl Batum, a law professor from Bahçeşehir U)

EDITORS’ NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) shakes hands with Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting in Tehran October 27, 2009.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses the Parliament to inform lawmakers on Turkey-Armenia-Azerbaijan relations in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. Turkey’s government faced stiff opposition in parliament on Wednesday over its landmark agreement to improve ties with Armenia by establishing diplomatic relations and opening their sealed border. Davutoglu also explained that Turkey, which shares ethnic and cultural bonds with Azerbaijan, wants a peaceful settlement to the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. an Armenian-occupied enclave in Azerbaijan that has been a center of regional tensions.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

“In Gaza, I was surprised and shocked by the destruction and misery there. I had not expected it. I did not anticipate that the IDF would have targeted civilians and civilian objects. I did not anticipate seeing the vast destruction of the economic infrastructure of Gaza including its agricultural lands, industrial factories, water supply and sanitation works. These are not military targets. I have not heard or read any government justification for this destruction. Read the rest of this entry »

The photo below has to be included here. From the Turkey-Armenia game. As far as I understood it was an operation by Young Civilians.

In the crisis between Israel and Turkey it should be noted Israel reacted too much to a serial that was not popular at all. I haven’t heard anybody discussing Ayrılık episodes. And as far as I know the serial was not in the top 100 ratings list. Now I hear producers are happy that people will be curious and watch the serial. There had to be a stronger reaction to Valley of the Wolves movie who had a substantive anti-semitic emphasis in some parts. Ayrılık hadonce made it to popular discourse through what Zeynep Tokuş , an actress and former beauty pageant winner was wearing:

FM Davutoğlu has just stated that TRT is an autonomous institution and they cannot intervene. But this of course should mean Turkey cannot than be angry at other countries’ governments about anti-Turkish or anti-Islamic stuff. (Such as in the Danish Cartoon Crisis? )